Caribbean_Rez

This was our first trip to T & C celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary and we stayed at Grace Bay Club. GBC exceeded our expectations. We were greeted by Veronica at her personal desk with cold towels and drinks and then the Office Manager, as well as the General Manager, came in to greet us. This is one of the reasons we like staying at smaller resorts.....very personal attention. Whenever we saw them during our visit they always stopped to chat! We booked a Deluxe Jr. Suite for 10 days which was on the 3rd floor. We "are all about the view people" so we like being up high. However, we were upgraded to a 1 bedroom luxury suite which was beach front, so we didn?t complain! The suite was huge and had a living room, dining area, full kitchen, 2 bathrooms, 2 patios and the most comfortable bed we have ever slept in! This was the first time we had direct access to the beach and we loved it. The restaurant service, beach service and housekeeping service were all excellent. Afternoon tea was right on the beach and it was a nice time to chat with other guests and we were all raving about the same thing.....the bed!! We even made some new friends! The spa services were excellent too. I would definitely recommend GBC, very private, very romantic and special attention to every guest. They are planning to build villas next door and as of July 6th, they still did not know when the construction would begin. I?m not so sure I would want to stay there during construction, but I can tell you that while we were there they were building additional patios near the restaurant and we never heard it. Of course, one cannot compare construction of a patio to villas.

This trip was strictly R&R for us so we spent most of our days sitting on gorgeous Grace Bay Beach....white powdery sand, clear blue ocean, and taking long walks. Very serene and peaceful. There were never more than 8 people on the beach in front of the hotel. We loved the people of T & C, very outgoing and friendly. We did explore one day and the island was more "green" than we anticipated and some of the homes are so magnificent it wasn't hard to imagine living there. There was a lot of construction going on.......homes, condos and villas. They are also widening the main road near the IGA to 4 lanes and enlarging the IGA. We snorkeled twice at the reef in front of Coral Gardens, which was fabulous. Saw some great fish and one day we had the entire reef to ourselves for about an hour. Not really a shopping mecca, but there were a couple of great stores.....the bookstore at the Marketplace (lots of construction going on), Greensleves in a little shopping center where we bought a fabulous map of the Caribbean and The Tourist Shop. These stores are basically for souvenirs, tees, etc., but also had some local artist's paintings.

The restaurant at GBC, Anacoana, is the most romantic restaurant we have ever dined at in the Caribbean and the view is breathtaking. We saw a few incredible sunsets. The service was excellent and the servers were extremely attentive as was all the restaurants on the island. We were always greeted with a smile from the manager, and from the first day all the servers remembered our names and our food and beverage preferences. Again, personal attention is such a nice touch! A continental breakfast was included which was fine for us......juices, cereal, yogurt, fruit, all types of bread. The lunch dishes seemed to be tastier than the dinner dishes. The lobster salad and the caesar salad were the best we had ever tasted. The steamed snapper at lunch was also excellent, which was the best seafood dish we ate. The drinks at the bar were very generous and Bill made one hell of a pina colada.

The food on the island was very expensive, which we knew, but was much more than we had anticipated. We also thought that a lot of the cuisine was very bland, especially the fish dishes. Having drinks with dinner, of course made the meals more expensive and most restaurants charged a 10% service charge and 10% government tax which made some of the dinners over the top. Our dinners ranged from $58.00 to $220.00 ($220 included a bottle of wine that was $65). My husband is missing the "dessert gene".....what a shame since all the desserts I had were exceptional. We are not picky eaters, but I would say that half the food was just not worth the money.....just my opinion.

After a couple of days of $50.00+ lunches we decided to get some sandwich stuff and snack food at IGA, (which is fully stocked with excellent choices, some expensive, some not so expensive). The last thing I want to do on vacation is cook (some people don't mind, but not for me), but making a quick sandwich on pita bread was not so bad.

We loved GBC, the island, the people, and especially the beach, but not sure if we would return. However, the beach is by far one of the best beaches we have ever seen in the Caribbean and the feel of the island was magical.....if only the food was better.

ejcrowe

Thanks for the trip review. I was a little startled to read that you weren't sure you would return again. Did you mean to T&C or to Grace Bay Club? And is it because you prefer to try new places every time you vacation that you're not sure you would go back?

Leslie_S

Not to be weird - but since you said everyone was raving about it and I'm in the market -- do you know what kind of mattress the bed had? Was it a Tempur-pedic or other foam by any chance?
Thanks!

I'm also curious about why you wouldn't go back...I was in Provo this spring and loved it and initially couldn't wait to go back. But there are so many amazing islands & hotels to try, I'm now thinking it'd be a shame to miss out on the others. However, I don't think the beaches anywhere can touch Grace Bay's....maybe Anguilla next....

LS

Can anyone recommend an all-inclusive on T&C? Preferable with golf? My husband and I have been 3 times - the beach in one of the best I've ever seen! Club Med all 3 times...
Ok, but after the last one, I realized we're getting too old for club med!

diann

I was in Provo T&C, to be honest I would never go back either. Perhaps we were not at the same beach. We stayed at Beaches, but just in general if I stayed elsewhere I still would not return. The water was great, but it just depends on what type of vacation you are seeking. The Island is just to quiet for us. I like to shop. I found shopping to be nearly non-existant. If it is R&R you seeking than this is a great place. I can find a beautiful beach with more activities elsewhere. Just my opinion.

LS

Thanks Diann - what resorts with beautiful beaches would you recommend?

Caribbean_Rez

To ejcrowe: Sorry I wasn't clear......not sure if we would return to T & C. If we did we would definitely stay at GBC. Yes, we do like to try different places, (we would eventually like to visit every Caribbean island) which is one of the reasons we probably would not return unless we fell in love with the island as we did with Anguilla last year and are returning next year. The other reason(s) is that the food was so expensive and not very good and while we don't need a lively nightlife, there is really nothing to do. I have to agree with Diann, there are many beautiful beaches in the Caribbean with lots of activities and I'm sure with much better food.

To: Leslie S: The bed was a feather bed and the comforter was also feather. Your body just melted into the mattress. I asked the owner where he got them and he told me some place in Miami and I wrote it down, but can't find it. Apparently feather beds are getting popular and can be purchased pretty easily. As soon as I'm in the market for a new bed, that will be my choice. As far as beaches anywhere that can touch Grace Bay, Anguilla wins......they have 33....just my opinion.

hunt

Your report was very informative and answered alot of the questions we had regarding T&C and more specifically Grace Bay Club. We do still have a few questions we hope you can answer:
What resorts are directly adjacent to GBC and how close are they to each other? Is there any problem with noise from the other resorts?
What other restaurants are must tries?
Are the guests at GBC mostly couples or families?
Are the bathrooms at GBC pretty standard or are they larger and more luxurious? We heard they have recently redone the rooms. The beds sound great.
Are there plenty of umbrellas and/or shade to accommodate all guests?
Do you know what time of year the small jellyfish are a problem?
We are debating between GBC and Peter Island. Have you been to Peter Island? If so, how would you compare the two?
Angilla sounds very appealing, too.
Please include any other valuable information.
Thanks for your help.

Caribbean_Rez

Hello Hunt,

To the left of GBC (facing the hotel on the beach) there was a vacant property and to the right is where the villas will be built. There was some type of contest going on at Club Med which was not very close to us and we heard a guy talking into a mike two times during our stay. However, it only lasted about 1/2 hour.

Caribbean_Rez

Sorry I hit post my reply before I finished. Here's the rest.

The beach was very quiet and not busy and there were always umbrellas and shade available. There were probably no more than 8 - 10 people on the beach at any one time during our stay.

The guests were all couples, we saw no families with children.

The bathrooms in our suite had marble sinks and countertops, a tiled shower and marble tub. We had 2, one had a stall shower, toilet and sink. The other had a soaking tub, double sink and toilet. What I liked most was that there were drawers and lots of them which provided plenty of room for toiletries. The bathrooms are not ultra luxurious, but are not standard either.

Our suite was fabulous as you can tell from my trip report and we are still talking about that bed! I've been investigating feather beds since our return!

Sorry I can't help with the jellyfish. Howard may know the answer to that question.

We originally were going to go to Peter Island, but chose T & C since 10 days at T & C was the same price as 8 days at Peter Island and we wanted to go for 10. However, we regretted not going to PI since the food was so expensive in T&C that Peter island would probably have been less expensive for 10 days! PI is a whole different experience than T&C since it's a private island. I met a couple last year in Anguilla who had just come from PI and loved it.

I can compare T & C to Anguilla and Anguilla wins hands down. We are returning next year. The beach in T & C was beautiful and we loved GBC, but Anguilla has 33 beachs, we loved Cap Juluca (more romantic than GBC IMO) and the food is spectacular and while pricey in some of the restaurants (and there are incredible restaurants that are very reasonable), it's well worth the money and much much much better than the restaurants in T & C. This is just my opinion.

If you do chose to go to T&C I recommend Anacoana, Coyaba, Grace's Cottage and Baci. The first three are very $$$$$. Baci is not as pricey and the food was excellent. We did eat at some other inexpensive restaurants, but the food was fair. We had bad luck with every fish meal except one so I would not recommend the fish, unless we just hit a bad week.

If I had never been to T&C and PI and knew exactly how expensive the food was I wold chose PI.

Hope this helps and feel free to ask any more questions.

HowardC

If you are on the beach facing Grace Bay Club on the right there is vacant property where they are going to build 30 more condos in four buildings. Next to that is Ocean Club West then Pinnacle (Under construction but noise shouldn't be a problem) and then Allegro. To the left-East--There is some vacant land then Grandview which is private condos. Royal West Indies and Club Med which is 1/4 to 1/2 mile away. They conduct beach activities at Club Med with a bull horn so sometimes when the wind is blowing right you will hear a little noise.
The Jelly fish are thimble jelly fish that are about an inch across and about 2 inches long. They swim in schools. You probably see them during the later part of April early May but it sort of depends on water temp tides. I have snorkeled thru schools of them amd except for the psychological effect didn't have a problem and didn't get stung.
Re Peter Island--Haven't been there but understand all that is threr is the resort, no other restaurants shops etc. Sort of like Young Island off St Vincent.